Living Miracles: Power over Flesh and Spirit
Notes
Transcript
Have you ever found yourself like me, trying to chase one thing, then another, then another, and you never seem to be able to catch up or get things done? It is an exhausting cycle. You get one thing done and there is something else to do. You put one fire out and look up and there are two more. I have this happen almost weekly. I begin to get into a pattern and a grove and then something comes along and messes it all up. The worst thing though is that I often times feel this way in my faith. Some days I spend the day trying to overcome my flesh, other times I spend my time trying to grow in the spirit. Most days though it never feels like I can do both of those things. Do yo feel the same way? Today in the scripture in Jesus 5th recorded miracle we will see that the power of Jesus is the power to control both the flesh and the spirit. Jesus embodies the ability to overcome both the flesh and the spiritual matters in life. In the power of Jesus we can learn to do the same thing.
Do you think you can do 2 things at the same time? How many of you believe that you are able to multitask? Most people believe that they are able to multi task. Did you know though that multitasking does not really exist, it is a myth. Dont believe me? When you came in this morning you were handed a piece of paper and a pen. On that paper I want you to take the paper and turn it sideways. I want you to draw 3 lines on that paper that gives you 4 distinct sections. When I say go, In the first section I want you to write the words Multitasking is a thief. Then in the second section I want you to write the numbers 1-20. Are you ready? Ok Go. Stop at 30 seconds. Ok now what we are going to do is we are going to simulate multi tasking. Take a note of how long it took you to do this exercise. In the next 2 sections I want you to write the same words and the same numbers. Except this time when you write the first letter I want you to also write down the coresponding number. So for instances M and 1 U and 2 and so on until you write out the whole thing. I will start a timer and will call out every 5 seconds until someone gets done. Are you ready? Go!. How many of you doubled or tripled your time?
This is the trap that we find ourselves in with our faith. Many of us walk around like we can manage both sides of our life. First managing the flesh and then managing the spirit. Unfortunately we live in an environment where this is very easy to get in the habit of doing. We are able to manage the spirit at church on Sunday and Wednesday then we spend the rest of the week trying to manage the flesh. It is really challenging when you have to mix those. You know like when the pastor visits your house. Or when someone from church sees you in the grocery store. We try to manager both the flesh and the spirit. I pray this morning that we will understand the power in Jesus to overcome the flesh by leaning into the Spirit. Getting this in the right order and not trying to multitask our lives will allow us to live in freedom. So this morning in the Scripture we will see the Profound Proof that Jesus has power over the Flesh and the Spirit. The Scripture will cultivate a conviction for us to get things in order. Lastly, God will Declare a destiny of freedom for those who will lean into the spirit. Are you ready? Turn with me in your Bible to Mark 1:32-34
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Profound Proof: Jesus has power over flesh and spirit
Profound Proof: Jesus has power over flesh and spirit
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
This scripture passage is short but man does it carry with it some powerful lessons for us. The purpose of this scripture is to provide a profound proof that Jesus was not just a good teacher and memorizer of the scriptures. Jesus also was not just a healer going around trying to make a name for himself. Jesus came with the authority of God to control both the flesh and the spirit. We often think of Jesus as a spiritual leader, one that came to make a spiritual difference. This is in fact true, but it is only one part of the story. Jesus also came as one to heal the flesh. Jesus came to do 2 things for those that would choose to follow him and that was to heal us spiritually and bring back the broken relationship with our Father. Second He came to show us how to live lives of sanctification and bringing our flesh back towards the state that God created us in. Jesus did not only have power over the things of the spirit but He also had power over the flesh. Look again at the scripture here this morning.
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
The impressive part about this scripture is that Jesus was able to heal physical ailments but was also able to control and cast out the spiritual ailments. Befroe we get away from this I want us to clearly see what the scripture defined here.
First- Those who were sick with various diseases. Why is it that these physical diseases were separated from the idea of the spiritual healing? It is becuase the scripture is delivering a clear picture that some of the things we will face in this flesh are the result of our fallen state. There are going to be things that happen to us in the flesh that are not in relation to our spiritual health. There are those that believe that those who are spiritually correct will have no health problems. I want to let you know this morning that it simply is not biblical for anyone to teach this type of message because the Bible does not say it. So if you are in here this morning and you are dealing with physical ailments, it may not be because you are doing anything wrong other than being a human being in the flesh. There are those who experience physical ailments becuase of their sin but not everyone.
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
You see here this man was in the path of Jesus born blind from birth so that he could be given his sight when Jesus walked by. How many other blind mend and women did Jesus walk past and never healed them? We can assume that there would have been plenty of people with ailments and difficulties that Jesus did not heal.
Second- Thise who were posessed by deamons. This was specifically written separately to indicate that there were those who were opressed by deamons and the struggles they were facing were because of a spiritual nature. We see this in Scripture here but in other places as well.
37 On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. 38 And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. 40 And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” 41 Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
What am I getting at here? First I am wanting us to understand that Jesus has power both over the physical ailments of the flesh and over the spiritual forces of this world that opress us. Second I want us to be very careful not to walk down a road where every illness or struggle someone is facing is “caused by their sin”. Those who are struggling because of demon opression and those who are struggling from fleshly ailments can both be saved by Jesus. Jesus does not want to simply heal us of spiritual ailments or of physical ailments, He wants to show us that He has the power over both of them and that He is in fact the one true Son of God.
A young boy traveling by airplane to visit his grandparents sat beside a man who happened to be a seminary professor. The boy was reading a Sunday school take-home paper, and the professor thought he would have some fun with the lad. “Young man,” said the professor, “if you can tell me something God can do, I will give you a big, shiny apple.” The boy thought for a moment and then replied, “Mister, if you can tell me something God can’t do, I’ll give you a whole barrel of apples!”
Jesus has all power over all things
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
This morning Jesus is telling us that He has the power over both the flesh and the spirit. Jesus is also calling us to a place of conviction in getting those things in order.
Cultivate Conviction: The right order
Cultivate Conviction: The right order
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
I started to get into it a bit in my first point but I want to get more into it here. Jesus was doing 2 things in this miracle. First He was healing the flesh, second He was healing by overcoming spirits. Jesus did both of these things so that He could prove that He was not just a doctor and not just a good preacher. Jesus was proving beyond a doubt that He was the messiah that had come to heal.
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
6 then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;
Jesus came to fulfil prophecy and in our miracle today Jesus is calling us to a place of conviction. Jesus is calling us to understand that in our lives we must seek the spirit and allow the spirit to overcome the flesh. The scripture is speaking in terms of healing but what the scripture is really pointing out is that Jesus in the power of the spirit of God was able to control the flesh and the spirit. The place of conviction for us is to ask ourselves, what are we focused on? Are we focused on trying to overcome the flesh? Do the right things? Say the right things? If we want to overcome the flesh it is through living in the spirit.
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
This scripture points us to the fact that our physical bodies are the temple of God. If we will focus on being the living temple of God then we will by spiritual nature overcome the sinful desires of the flesh. All the time? No but much of the time. Taking care of the things of the flesh are good but taking care of the spiritual things are better.
8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Taking time to set up boundaries in your life or guidlines in your life are great. They cannot be the primary focus for you. As I often try to do I am going to be very transparent with you this morning.
I have shared with you my struggles and I will continue to share with you the things that make me completely human and I will boast in the things that God is able to do through me becuase of His power through my weaknesses. One of the areas that I have struggled with is anger. I used to get super angry. When I would get into biblical confrontations with people I would get frustrated and almost every time it ended in someone yelling and screaming and almost always me. At home I struggled with reacting in anger towards my wife or children and while I was never physical, some of the ways I acted towards my family were worse than being physical. I had a moment where things got real for me and my wife said, look you either learn how to work through this or we will learn how to do life separately. I did not want that so I enrolled in therapy. In therapy I learned all these tips and tricks on how to control my anger. I learned to count backwards, I learned to close my eyes and take a deep breath. I learned to walk away. You know what I did not learn how to do though? I did not learn how to overcome anger. I simply learned how to control it in that moment. I did not learnt how to cast it out of my life, I learned how to handle it when it came up. I am not saying that anger is all bad, God got angry, the Bible tells us to not sin in our anger. In general though anger is not one of the fruits of the spirit and not something we should live in. It was not until I realized that I had neglected my Bible and my prayer time that I realized that in the areas of my life when I am angry and unable to control it, its often becuase I have neglected the spiritual things in my life. So what happened? Thats right, I over rotated. I said OK I am going to read my Bible for hours a day, I am going to lock myself in the closet and pray for hours a day, I am going to get really good at being religious. Guess what that caused? Yeah my wife to get angry. The point is that there is a balance in this, there is a place where the flesh is being controlled by the spirit but I am living a holy life in the flesh because of being filled with the spirit.
The Bible tells us to be filled with the spirit, and to live.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
What does this scripture indicate? It shows both a spiritual and physical aspect. We are in the flesh but by living in the spirit we will not give in to the desires of the flesh.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We are called to live in this world in the flesh and to understand that in the power of the name of Jesus we can overcome the fallen nature of the flesh. The profound proof this morning is that Jesus has power over the Flesh and Spirit. The Cultivated conviction is that we are called to balance the flesh and the spirit. The Declared Destiny is that you can experience the greatness of life and the kingdom together if you will live in the spirit through the flesh.
Declared Destiny: Freedom in the Spirit
Declared Destiny: Freedom in the Spirit
34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
This last scipture is the ultimate place where we want to live. We want to live in a place where demons will not speak around us because they know who we serve. The demons would not speak becuase they knew Jesus. Can I say that we need to be so in tune with the Spirit of God that the demons shut up when we are around.
41 And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.
When we live in the power of the Spirit of Christ we find the power to shut the mouth of the demon. We often times will walk away from the freedom in the spirit and allow demons to speak in our lives and to toment our flesh because we forget that if we live in the power of the spirit that Jesus gave us there is complete freedom from the power of the devil. When the spirit is the focus of our lives the flesh will experience the freedom that is in Christ. Yuo are not called to stress all day about doing the right things, saying the right things, acting the right way. You are called to live in the spirit. To study the word, to memorize scripture, to pray without ceasing, to live in a way that exemplifies Christ. The declared destiny is yours this morning if you will choose to live in it.
16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Jesus was able to overcome the flesh and spiritual worlds becuase He focused on honoring the Father in His life and living according to the spirit. Do you want to stop the rat race of trying to not sin? The scripture is telling you this morning how to do that. Do not focus on not sinning, focus on loving God and others, and you will not find yourself in the place to sin as often.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time;
it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
